Moral Ambiguity
by superfluffball
Summary: Wanting to shed her less than respectable image of being a damsel in distress, Lois comes up with a great plan- to hire someone to kidnap Clark, giving them a small sample of Kryptonite- all so she can play the hero. But all goes terribly wrong...
1. Prologue

Prologue

Lois Lane stormed into Kent Farm, Clark hot at her heels. She was fuming, her anger directed especially at Clark, yet he could not understand why. He had just saved her yet again from being crushed by a large chunk of building that had broken off during a training session with Conner. Swooping in at the last minute, he had carried her swiftly to safety.

Clark was confused about Lois's current behavior. She had not spoken to him since the rescue, and Clark had never before seen Lois keep her mouth shut this long. He looked over at her, concerned, as she had not even made a sound that would be audible to a human for the duration of their car ride home. Using his super-hearing, Clark could hear for miles around, and could easily hear Lois's heartbeat, but that did not really count. Thinking back, Clark could not recall there being any powerful entities that could have taken Lois's voice away, so the only explanation for Lois's silence would be that she was so irate that she could not even put her anger into words. If not for his superpowers, Clark would have trembled in fear.

"Lois, are you okay?" Clark asked, carefully. All he received in response was a slow, growling noise as Lois steeled her eyes at him.

"Lois!" Clark pleaded, "Why are you so mad at me? If anything, you should be pissed at Conner, not me. He's the one that knocked off that section of the Daily Planet with his heat vision."

"Conner is a teenaged boy, and you are a grown man, Clark," Lois glared at her fiancé, "And who took him out on patrol?"

"I thought it would be good practice with his powers! How is Conner ever going to learn to control his powers if he never gets any real world experience? Without training, he would be more of a danger!"

"Then let him practice shooting his heat vision at targets on the farm! Practicing in the barn is one thing, but he's definitely not ready to use his powers out in public. Innocents could be injured!"

Clark looked at the floor sheepishly, before walking over to the refrigerator. "You're right. Conner wasn't ready for this, but he really wants to be a hero. Tess took him away to a safe place anyway, so he can't endanger anyone else, and he won't be in danger either. Look! Problem solved! How about I make you an apology dinner? Just the two of us and a nice steak?" he suggested, looking over at the love of his life, who nodded grudgingly, never one to turn down a delicious meal. Clark knew that Lois had a deep love for steak and was hoping to get back onto her good side.

"I'll be upstairs. Call me down when dinner is ready, but remember- this discussion is not over!" Lois stomped off to their bedroom, still huffing. If Clark thought that the Conner dilemma was the only issue that she was angry about, he was dead wrong.

"You mean argument, don't you?" Clark murmured under his breath as he watched Lois's retreating form, "I'm really lucky Lois doesn't have super-hearing. I really should shut up now, though." Zipping around the kitchenette using his super-speed, Clark readied all of the dinner ingredients and started on the cooking, trying to get his mind off of the argument. He truly loved Lois and did not want to see her angry.

Meanwhile, upstairs in the bedroom, Lois was sprawled out across the bed, frowning at the number she had just typed on her cell phone. "Now don't do anything rash, Lois. Nothing good ever comes from that," she reminded herself, but at this moment, she felt irrationally furious. "Why am I so angry about this? It's not as if anyone died or anything. Oh wait, now I remember- Clark just saved me for the zillionth time, but I'm a strong, independent woman who doesn't need saving! And why am I talking to myself? Clark could hear with his super-hearing!" She glanced over at the bedroom door suspiciously, wondering if Clark had been listening in this whole time, then she turned back to the tiny cell phone screen. After she had stared at the screen for an extended period of time, the numbers had begun blurring together.

Lois wondered if this was a good idea, what she was about to do, and she was unsure if she should be making such a huge decision in her current fiery temperament, but this same anger gnawed at her to do something about Clark's savior complex. She could not stand being a damsel in distress, but Clark would never stand around idly while someone was in trouble. Usually, Lois greatly respected the Blur, and was proud of Clark for his heroism, but her need to assert her own independence was quickly overcoming any positive feelings towards Clark's heroic alter ego. Finally working up the nerve, Lois pressed the tiny green call button on the left side of her phone, and placed it to her ear.

Lois waited impatiently for her call to be answered. The annoying ringing was aggravating her still growing fury, and she was about to hang up, when a voice came through on her cell phone, "Hello?"


	2. Surreptitious Meetings

Author's note: Thanks for reviewing! Even if it was criticism, I was glad to hear from some readers. Lois may seem angry to a degree that could interpreted as out of character by some, but Lois has always had a temper, and could there be outside forces affecting her temperament? You never know with DC characters.

Surreptitious Meetings

Lois waited impatiently for her call to be answered. The annoying ringing was aggravating her still growing fury, and she was about to hang up, when a voice came through on her cell phone, "Hello?"

"Hello. This is Lois Lane."

"Lois Lane. This is quite unexpected. May I ask why you're calling?" a female voice asked harshly, "We weren't on the best of terms the last time we met."

"You know as well as I do, Roulette, it was all a huge misunderstanding," Lois tried to reason with the other woman. "As for why I'm calling, I actually respect your talents, and I have a business proposition to make you."

Roulette brightened up at this. Her business had hit a low point since her unfortunate encounter with the superheroes. Her usual crowd of potential clients did not deal well with superheroes, and in fact, most either expressly avoided them or considered them enemies to be exterminated. When the villainous underworld caught wind of her dealing with the superhero crowd, they made a point to bring their business elsewhere. No one wanted to do business with a mercenary who had provided her services to a hero. The Chloe girl had paid her well for her services, but no one had hired her since. "I'm willing to listen, but how much are you willing to pay? I'm a busy person, and I have no time to waste on petty jobs."

"I would rather do this in person. Is there somewhere we can meet face-to-face to handle the transaction? I can't provide the details over the phone," Lois verbalized her concern that Clark could very well be listening in as he prepared dinner for the two of them. Having fought with Roulette, she knew that the mercenary was strong and deadly. Lois did not trust Roulette very much, but Lois knew that the mercenary's loyalty could be bought easily. All Lois needed to do was pay Roulette a large sum of money, and they would have a deal. They just needed a safe place to meet in order to discuss the particulars.

"The café at the corner of K Street and Sixth Avenue. Eight o'clock. Come alone and don't forget your checkbook."

"Tonight?" Lois questioned, but the silence that answered her told her that Roulette had already hung up, "I'm sure she would have specified a day if she hadn't meant tonight."

Lois's hunch that dinner with Clark would be very uncomfortable that evening came true, with their earlier argument definitely not forgotten. As she stabbed at her steak, and Clark munched on his, Clark awkwardly tried to make conversation, but mostly fell short. He then made a faux pas that caused any reservations Lois may have had about meeting Roulette to vanish, as he inquired in his calmest, most innocent voice, "Lois, talk to me, are you PMSing?"

Astonished at his bluntness, Lois responded sarcastically, "Why, of course I am! The only way I could ever be angry with you would be if I were PMSing!" She then stood up and stomped upstairs angrily, reinforcing Clark's idea. Clark was left with no doubt as to what was going on. He hated Lois's time of the month because given her inherent temper, her irritability reached astonishing thresholds during those times. Sighing, Clark decided that the best way to cheer his fiancée up would be to super-speed his way over to Switzerland to buy Lois chocolate. Donning his signature red jacket, he sped off.

At seven o'clock, Lois descended the staircases, but Clark was nowhere in sight. She realized that he must have left while she had been upstairs, and was glad for the opportunity to depart unseen from the farm. Grabbing her purse and a sweater, Lois entered her car and readied the ignition. After fifteen minutes of driving, Lois remembered something, "Damn! I forgot a check." She immediately made a sudden sharp U-turn and headed back towards Kent Farm. Reentering the farm, Lois quickly ripped a check from her checkbook, and then dashed out of the house again. She had left the car running, and merely floored the accelerator, zooming off towards Metropolis.

Entering the streets of Metropolis, Lois glanced down at the digital clock on her car's dashboard. She had lost a half hour at the beginning of her journey, and was now running late. It was already eight o'clock, and she was still at least five minutes away from the diner, and that was with no traffic. Unfortunately, the streets of Metropolis were always jammed with cars and pedestrians, and this night was no different. Deciding that walking would surely be faster, Lois pulled into the nearest parking space on the side of the road, messily parallel parking. She knew that Roulette would have no patience for tardiness and dashed off towards their meeting place.

When she arrived up the rendezvous point, the café was bustling with patrons. It was the perfect place for a secret meeting, right in plain sight, and no one around would be suspicious. A beautiful Asian woman, wearing a red track suit, was sitting alone at an outdoor table, and Lois recognized the woman from their earlier fight. It was Roulette. She looked straight at Lois with a hard gaze and motioned for her to sit down. "Hello, Lois, what can I do for you?" Roulette asked harshly, then added, "Honestly, you don't seem like the type to hire a mercenary, but neither did Miss Sullivan. I hardly thought that you approved of her decision to hire me, let alone thought you would do it yourself."

Lois straightened her back and cleared her throat, "Desperate times call for desperate measures, I suppose. The Blur is acting way too superior, always saving me and other 'helpless' women, and I'm sick of this behavior. We women need to assert our equality to men, and I think the best way would be for the female reporter that the Blur is always protecting to save him from a kidnapping."

Roulette was listening carefully and nodded, "If I understand correctly, you want me to stage a fake kidnapping to make it appear that you are superior to the Blur."

"I want to show that I am equal to the Blur."

"And why do you care so much about the Blur? If you were truly an independent woman, you wouldn't dwell this much on a man. I thought I read that the famous reporter Lois Lane got engaged to another man…" Roulette narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the woman opposite her, as she began catch on to something that Lois most definitely did not want her to know.

Lois stiffened and quickly thought of an explanation, not wanting Roulette to think that she hesitated, "I still had feelings for the Blur, but he broke my heart, so I want to get back at him."

"But that would make you a soft woman, to be hurt so badly by one man…" Roulette realized that Lois had just contradicted herself, but the mercenary watched, mesmerized, as Lois pulled out a blank check and laid it on the table in front of her. "On the other hand, I think that it is admirable to prove the power of women, but how am I going to capture someone who is super-strong, super-fast, and invulnerable? And more importantly, how much are you going to pay for my services?" Roulette asked, looking at Lois questioningly.

"This," Lois placed a pair of handcuffs, that held a slight green tint to them, on the table, sliding them over to Roulette, "is a special pair of handcuffs, designed to hold the Blur. And I am willing to pay ten thousand dollars for your services." The handcuffs contained a minute amount of Kryptonite inside, just enough to weaken Clark, so that he would not be able to fight back, but not enough to kill Clark.

"Only ten thousand? Are you kidding me? I charge hundreds of thousands of dollars for lesser jobs! And here you are, asking me to kidnap the Blur!" Roulette erupted, seething, but instantly regretted what she had just blurted out. No matter how much Lois offered to pay, Roulette knew that after she captures the Blur, she will be able to garner wealthier clients, people more willing to pay millions for the Blur's head.

Lois stayed her ground, "Ten thousand is the max I'm offering, and there's no way I'm budging."

Roulette knew that she would have to put on a show to close the deal. She gave an over-exaggerated sigh and put her arms up in a surrendering motion, "You got me. I haven't had any clients since our last encounter, and I could use the money, even if it is just ten thousand."

Lois Lane readied her pen in preparation to fill out the check, but then realized she needed more information. "How are you going to kidnap the Blur?"

Inclining her head, Roulette peered at Lois oddly. "I'll have to draw him out first. Hmmm… I'll probably create a controlled fire in an apartment building to lure him out, but you'll have to tell him about the fire. I know that you are the only reporter who he speaks to. You must have a way to contact him."

"Yes, but how am I going to tell him if I don't know which apartment building."

"Fine. Tell him… The Metropolis Gardens Apartment, on Tenth and Parker."

Lois nodded and wrote out the check for ten thousand dollars, finishing up with her signature, then sliding it over to Roulette. "No hurting him though. If you want to torture him, just give one of those long, boring supervillain speeches. So, we have a deal right?"

"Okay, deal." The two women shook each others hand, stiffly.

Roulette turned to leave, but Lois stopped her abruptly, "Wait a minute! Did you think you could get away without telling me where you are going to take him? I do need to save him! That is part of the deal."

Refraining from cackling evilly, Roulette nodded, "I'm sorry! I just completely forgot. I'll be taking him to my club, The Two of Diamonds." With that, the two women departed in separate directions, with Lois glad to finally be out of the mercenary's company, and with Roulette gingerly fingering the pair of handcuffs, wondering what could make them so special that they would contain the Blur. Roulette knew enough from experience not to offer the Blur for money until she actually had him, so she would have to wait until she pulled the trap on him to get the real money from this job.


	3. Furtive Kidnappings

Author's Note: Thanks for the nice reviews :^). Just so you won't be confused, this story takes place sometime before the finale, but after the episode Scion, as evidenced by the fact Conner is around, while Roulette is not yet a part of Marionette Ventures. In this chapter, Lois is still extremely angry, but what is causing this anger, and what will the consequences of her actions be?

Furtive Kidnappings

When Lois got back to the farm, unsurprisingly, Clark had not yet returned. He was always off saving innocent people from danger and disaster, and hardly ever had time to spend alone with his darling fiancée. Although he always tried to balance his two identities, it was difficult due to the obligation he felt to protect others. Clark was very protective of Lois, never wanting any harm to come to her and stopping those who would hurt her, but as Lois walked into the empty house, she was fed up with Clark's overprotective nature.

Reclining on the couch, Lois reflected on her decision to hire Roulette to kidnap Clark. While she would usually deplore such methods, Lois understood that Clark's savior complex had grown to much too great proportions, and she needed to deflate his ego before things got even more out of hand. She knew that his powers gave him the ability to perform feats that were way beyond the realm of possibility for most humans, and had taken it upon himself to become the world's greatest hero, but Lois did not believe that she was the one who needed saving. She was an able, independent person, an investigative reporter who had what it took to get to the heart of any story, or maybe she was just trying to rationalize her decision.

The door creaked open, and a strong gust of wind burst through. Clark was standing in the threshold, his black hair windswept, and his deep blue shirt riddled with gunfire. He was holding a thin box, wrapped in black wrapping paper, with a gold bow tied around it. "Sorry I took so long. I went all the way to Switzerland to buy you some nice chocolates, but on my way home, I had to stop a potential gang war from breaking out in Gotham." He held out the box of chocolates, looking sheepish. "I tried to protect the chocolates as best I could, but I think a bullet or two might've gotten in, so be careful."

"Why don't you just use your X-ray to find them? The chocolates aren't made out of lead or something, are they?" Lois asked, mockingly.

"Haha. I didn't think of that." Clark removed the bow and wrapping paper, revealing the tin of chocolates. He then stared at the box intently for a few seconds, before pointing at a large heart-shaped chocolate, declaring, "The bullet is lodged in that chocolate!"

"How ironic! We've just had a love spat, and a bullet went into the heart chocolate in your apology chocolate tin."

"There's another heart-shaped chocolate. You can have this one instead!" Clark playfully placed the chocolate between Lois's lips, chuckling. He popped a different chocolate in his own mouth and made "Mmmm mmmm" sounds, while Lois smiled and rolled her eyes, momentarily forgetting her anger.

"These Swiss chocolates are the best!" Lois announced, finishing off the last chocolate, a truffle, "They must have been a hell of a lot expensive!"

"They were!" Clark agreed, "But nothing but the best for my Lo-Lo!"

Lois giggled and snuggled up closer to Clark on the couch. Clark gladly reciprocated and wrapped his arms around his fiancée, happy that their argument was finally behind them. Ollie and Chloe had been on vacation together for the past week, and still had another week away, but they had eagerly offered Clark advice on how to resolve the fight with Lois, when he called them. Ollie mentioned that Lois had always loved Swiss chocolate when they were together, and Chloe had said that best way to get a girl to forgive him would be to bring her flowers and a nice bottle of Chardonnay. Clark decided that the best way to get Lois to forgive him would be combining the two, but he did not have time to get flowers.

Clark leaned in for a kiss, and they locked lips for a long time. In a moment of sobriety, Lois caught of whiff of alcohol on Clark's breath and pushed him away. "Are you drunk?"

"Lois, you know I can't get drunk, not unless it's magic alcohol."

"Did you drink?" she asked. Then, she had a revelation and sniffed her own breath. "Oh my God! You laced the chocolates!"

"No! I wouldn't stoop so low!"

Although the tin of chocolates was empty, it was still lying on the coffee table, and Lois reached for it. Knowing that he would have a lot more explaining to do if he stopped her, Clark let her read the label. "The filling inside the chocolates was flavored liquor? I thought I tasted something off about them!" Lois blew a fuse, "That was despicable! You don't go around drugging someone while trying to get their forgiveness!" Storming off, Lois gave Clark one last look before she reached the top of the stairs, "And you're sleeping on the couch tonight!"

Pulling out her cell phone, Lois dialed the same number from earlier that night, although it felt like a lifetime ago to her now. This time, Roulette picked up the phone after only one ring.

"Yes, Lois? You've already paid, and I don't do refunds," she said, snidely.

"I haven't called to get a refund. I was wondering… can you move up the kidnap to tomorrow?" It was a spur of the moment decision, Lois knew, and she was also aware that it was best to think things out, but Clark had crossed a line today, and there was no turning back. "I'm willing to pay an extra five thousand." Clark's attitude had been infuriating Lois for a while, and she knew that the only way to right the situation was to stage the kidnapping.

"I suppose it could be possible, but not ideal. It will be difficult to set everything up under such short notice, but I am Roulette, so I should be able-"

This time, Lois was the one to hang up, and she made a point to do in the middle of Roulette's villainous gloating. Now, Lois needed to make plans involving the other heroes. The only heroes currently operating in Metropolis were the Blur and Green Arrow, but Oliver was away with Chloe, so she did not have to worry about either of them. As long as no one else found about the kidnapping, no one else could save Clark instead of her. Lois thought that the best way to ensure that would be to take out their means of communication- Watchtower, and that required handling Tess, which is why Lois found herself arriving at LuthorCorp so late at night.

As she entered Tess's office, Lois held a can of pepper spray in one hand and a roll of duct tape in the other. Tess was sound asleep at her desk, and Lois had ditched her heels for quieter, rubber-soled sneakers. It was late though, and Lois felt an irresistible yawn coming on, so when she let it out, Tess woke up with a start. She was still groggy though, so as she was saying, "Lois, wha-" Lois sprayed pepper spray directly into her face. While Tess was coughing and sputtering, with tearing, red eyes, Lois proceeded to wrap Tess's hands and feet with duct tape, and covered her eyes too. After Tess let out her last cough, Lois sealed her lips shut with duct tape. For some reason, the security at LuthorCorp was lax that night, and Lois was able to leave unnoticed, with Tess slung over her shoulder.

As she drove towards Smallville, Lois kept giving sidelong glances to the woman next to her. Tess was completely bound and had been strapped into the passenger seat. Out of nostalgia, and the knowledge that Clark could easily locate Tess if she took the woman back to the farm, Lois headed to the ruins of her old living quarters, the Talon. When they arrived, Lois tossed Tess onto the rubble, and threw a lead sheet on top of her, just in case the kidnapping somehow backfired.

Lois had finally made it back to Kent Farm, and knowing that she had a big day ahead of her, Lois decided it would be best to go to sleep immediately, but once she got into bed, she knew that there was no way that she was going to get any sleep that night. It was either in guilt or excitement for the next day.

After her sleepless night, Lois was in need of a great quantity of caffeine to function, so she had about six cups of coffee. Unfortunately, this had some major repercussions, as she spent most of the morning at work inside the bathroom. At one point, after she had finally emerged from the bathroom, she noticed a young reporter frantically grabbing his stuff from the table.

"Why are you in such a hurry, kid?"

"Oh hi, Miss Lane! I have this assignment- there's a fire at the Metropolis Gardens Apartment Complex- I've been chosen for a real assignment!" he shared, his face beaming with pride.

"Good luck, kid."

Lois made a beeline towards Clark's desk, where he was working diligently on the computer. When she reached his work area, she nodded towards him, "Hey, Smallville." Clark was just glad that she had finally acknowledged him since their fight had taken a turn for the worse the night before, but instead of talking to him, Lois turned towards his desk neighbor, Cat Grant. "Hi, Cat. Have you heard about the fire at Metropolis Gardens Apartments?"

Cat gave Lois an odd look; the two of them had never gotten along very well, with Lois always annoyed at Cat, and Cat always jealous of Lois. "No, but why are you telling me?"

"I heard that it is a really big fire, and there are people stuck inside the building, but a rookie reporter has been sent to cover the story!"

Cat gasped, grabbed her PDA and pink purse, and dashed out of the building. Chuckling, Lois turned around to look at Clark's desk, but he, too, was already gone. The moment he had heard that people were still in the building, he had left. Lois sat down at Clark's computer and went to the news website, where she could see video feed of the fire. The video only showed the outside of the building, but Lois distinctly saw a red blur zip inside. Lois knew that it would be impossible to see what was going on inside, but as long as she did not see the Blur exit the building, she would know that the kidnapping had been successful.

Meanwhile, at the Metropolis Gardens Apartment Complex, Clark, dressed as the Blur, had just entered the apartment building, but he was surprised to find that he could not hear any residents screaming for help. He decided to use his X-ray vision to locate the trapped people, but he only saw one woman and three grown men. Had Lois been exaggerating when she described many people being trapped in there? With only four people, the firefighters could easily have handled the rescuing. Clark's chivalrous nature led him to go save the woman first, so he carefully made his way up the stairs, not wanting to destroy the already unstable structure any further.

The Blur entered the room that he had seen the woman in, using his X-ray vision, but something felt off. The woman was just lying there, under a piece of flimsy wood that even a young child could lift up. Clark was confused as to why the Asian woman was not trying to escape, but decided that she must have been injured, or burned, in a way that was covered by the wood.

He sped over towards the woman, but he suddenly felt extremely weak, and collapsed to the floor. "Kryptonite…" he said, weakly, as the woman stood up and handcuffed him. In his weakened state, Clark was unable to struggle as three large, well-muscled goons lifted him up and carried him downstairs. They went out a secret side exit, and Roulette pressed a button on her remote control that caused all of the smoke and flames to immediately disappear.

Roulette smirked as she and her henchmen zoomed off in their getaway car, with the Blur in their captivity, "I can't believe they always fall for that helpless woman act! Lois is right. Too bad I have to double cross her to make more money!" She turned to the driver, a fourth henchman, "Find Lionel Luthor's phone number for me. He will pay a great deal of money for the Blur!"

Clark, though still pretty out of it, was lucid enough to catch his fiancé's name in the conversation. "Lois…"


	4. Lonely Awakenings

Author's Note: It's finally summer vacation, so I have more time to write this story, after a busy end to the school year. In this chapter, Lois is finally ready to become a hero, but will she succeed? Also, if you can catch it, there's a small hint to what's going on with Lois's uncharacteristic behavior. If you can't, don't worry, it will be revealed in a later chapter! Please review! I'm writing for fun, but I like to know that people are actual reading my story. If you review, it will motivate me to update quicker!

Lonely Awakenings

Kent Farm was eerily quiet when Lois returned after work. No one was aware of the Blur's kidnapping other than those who partook in it, so life in Metropolis had proceeded normally for the rest of the day. With Tess otherwise engaged, there was no Watchtower to spread the news of the kidnapping to the world's other heroes. Having handled all of the possible contingencies she could think of, Lois was busy making plans to rescue the Blur and become the female role model that the city had been waiting for.

She surveyed the various outfits laid out on her bed. There were many possibilities, but Lois needed to choose the perfect outfit for her superheroine debut: something classy and stylish, but also practical and sturdy. She nixed all of the heels and pantsuits combos, finally deciding on a sensible blue and silver tracksuit, which she donned readily.

"It's time for Lois Lane, the future savior of the planet, to be introduced to the world!" Lois told her reflection in the mirror, as she fixed her hair back into a ponytail, "I can see the headlines already—The Daily Planet's Very Own Ace Reporter, Lois Lane, Rescues the Blur from Near Doom—it'll be the story of the century!" Grinning maniacally, Lois slipped her cell phone into her pocket, finally ready to become the hero she knew that she was destined to be. But wait—Lois had no superpowers and would need a weapon of some sort. She eyed the can of pepper spray which was lying on floor, having rolled out of her bag, but although it had served her well against Tess, it was not the most effective weapon. Frowning, Lois reprimanded herself; Clark would surely not approve of her going around and shooting people to death, and she definitely did not want to cross that line either. Instead, she grabbed a few extra cans of pepper spray. Now she was ready to rescue Clark.

Lois drove recklessly through the streets, pushing 70 miles per hour. It was imperative that she find Clark as soon as possible. As angry as she was at Clark's Blur persona, Clark, as Clark, was still the man she loved, and she hated to see him hurt. Lois knew that Roulette was not beyond cruel methods, even if she was hired only to kidnap someone. Ollie had not escaped from Roulette's clutches unscathed, and in Clark's weakened state, he was vulnerable as well. Lois did not worry too much, as she was still angry at her fiancé, but she was not cold and uncaring. She briefly thought of Tess, but then decided that Tess was cold and uncaring, and could therefore handle what Lois did to her. Tess was a Luthor, so of course she could handle being thrown into the remains of the Talon, bound and gagged. It had been almost a full day since the whole Tess debacle had unfolded, but it seemed like much longer to Lois.

"I wonder if Tess is hungry after being there for such a long time…" Lois said to her reflection in the rearview mirror, "See, I'm caring!"

The car veered around the corner, as Lois finally made the final approach to Roulette's club. She floored the brakes, and the car skidded to a halt in front of a dingy, rundown building. The peeling red paint, the litter-filled walkway, and the boarded up windows were all big deterrents. A sign hung crookedly above the faded brown door, and in the darkness of the Metropolis night, the sign read, "Te Tw f Dimds," in red neon letters, but by straining her eyes, Lois could make out the other letters in the sign, declaring it to be The Two of Diamonds. It appeared to be an ordinary abandoned building, and Lois admired Roulette's shrewdness in choosing such an unobtrusive building as the kidnapping base of operations. Surveying the dilapidated building, Lois surmised it to be one of Roulette's former high-end clubs, but now, looking at it, she could not imagine it as a bustling, lively place. The building now gave off an aura of years of neglect, but Lois knew that she would find Clark inside the dingy walls.

Lois leaned back in her car seat, inhaling deeply. She needed a well thought-out plan before she could save Clark and prove herself as a hero and a woman. Sighing, Lois dragged her fingers through her hair, and then pulled on it sharply. Her scalp burned slightly, but the pain grounded her. Although she had been adamant about the plan so far, she suddenly felt down and outright miserable. Lois felt distressed as she gazed out the window at the building where Roulette was supposedly keeping Clark. She was finally having second thoughts about her recent decisions, and she did not know what to do next.

A glint of gold appeared in Lois's rearview mirror, and she suddenly began giggling uncontrollably. She finally got a hold of herself after quite a few moments, but a slight smile remained as Lois unconsciously adjusted her mirror.

"I know—I'll just barge in straight through the front door! Clark does it all the time, and everything always turns out all right," Lois smirked, pushing any and all second thoughts aside for the time being. Grinning broadly, Lois turned the car off, opting to park on the street right in front of the club, rather than finding a true parking spot. Flinging the door open, Lois hopped out of the car and dashed towards the door to the abandoned-looking building. She had wasted too much time already, but now she needed to act as a hero!

She was nearing the door—nearing her goal—when she suddenly felt a prick on the back of her neck. Lois reached for the spot on her neck, but wooziness had overcome her. "No," she gasped, trying to keep on her feet, but it was to no avail. Lois was so close to her goal, but her legs could no longer support her body. As she collapsed onto the ground, the last thing she saw before succumbing to unconsciousness was three blurry figures standing over her.

Meanwhile, elsewhere—

"Ughhhhhhh." Clark laboriously lifted his head off of an unfamiliar floor. "This is definitely not my bed." He looked around the small, dark room, disorientated from pain. The only light came from the room's sole window, which was partially obstructed by metal bars. He tried moving, but his head hurt too much, in fact his entire body hurt! There was a resonant soreness engulfing his whole body. He tried moving his arms, but found that they were cuffed together at his wrists. Something tugged at the back of his mind, but thinking caused a sharp throbbing in his head. He wondered if this was what a concussion felt like. As a superpowered alien, he did not usually have to worry about injuries, due to his invulnerability. Surveying his surroundings, Clark was unable to see any kryptonite, but the room's dim lighting was definitely substandard.

Clark knew that he would be defenseless if he did not overcome the pain, but after struggling against the cuffs for a long while, he deemed them impossible to break out of. Instead, he decided to focus his little remaining energy on remembering what had happened to him. He focused intently on his most recent memory. He saw an apartment building on fire and had gone in to save the inhabitants, but what had occurred inside that had culminated in his capture? Suddenly, as though a dam had broken, Clark remembered everything that had transpired. The fire in that apartment building had been a trap. Roulette had been lying in wait for him when he had gone in to save people. How had Roulette known about his weakness to the green meteor rock?

Clark suddenly remembered something else from his kidnapping: in the car, when he had been quite out of it, he had heard Lois's name. Anger washed over him as he questioned, "Why did she try to make it seem as though Lois was involved?" Clark would never believe such a thing. He trusted his fiancée with his life, and Lois would never betray him like that. He laughed; Roulette had obviously been trying to screw with his mind, and he could not believe that he was trying to rationalize Lois's innocence. Of course Lois was innocent.

The pounding in his head had finally lessened a bit, but the rest of his body was still plagued with soreness, and when the door to the room creaked open, and a familiar, bearded male figure stepped in, Clark was in no shape for an escape attempt.


	5. Grave Gatherings

Author's Note: I was a bit perturbed by the lack of reviews for my last chapter, but here I am, updating anyway:

Let it be known that the new character introduced at the end of this chapter is _not_ an original character, but is a previously established DC character. In a review, you can guess who this mystery character is, and you can say another Smallville character that has not yet been used in my story. The first person to correctly figure out who the identity of this character will have their choice of character added to the story in a main role.

Grave Gatherings

Lois had reached an odd state of semi-consciousness since the moment she had felt the prick of a needle on her neck. Although she had no sense of the time that had passed, and she could not yet move her body or open her eyes, she was now vaguely aware of voices, coming from somewhere above her.

"Well?" Lois heard a familiar female voice ask. With her brain not functioning at full capacity yet, the voice sounded somewhat hazy to Lois, and she was unable to pin a name or face to it.

"She's gone completely nutso!" This time, it was a familiar male voice that replied.

"That's your professional medical opinion?" The female voice asked, in disbelief, "Are you even a psychiatrist?" If her eyes had been functioning at that moment, Lois would have seen the woman's eyebrows shoot up her forehead.

"Um… no. But don't you agree? Her behavior clearly demonstrates that she's completely unraveled!" The man uncomfortably shuffled his feet. "Just look at what she did to you!"

"Hmmm… I guess you're right. But couldn't she be mind controlled or something? It's a crazy world we live in. Shouldn't we contact a real psychiatrist before we medicate her?" Lois tried to squirm, but her body was still unresponsive to her mental commands. She did not know who the voices belonged to, but obviously _they _were the psychos if they wanted to drug her randomly.

The man and woman continued their discussion, unaware that Lois could hear them, let alone understand them. "Try finding a psychiatrist that specializes in metahuman cases!" The man shouted, seemingly affronted by the woman's lack of confidence in him.

"But she's not a metahuman…" the woman trailed off, bewildered by her companion's words.

"No matter! I'm a doctor, so I can prescribe. We don't want her hurting anyone else, or herself either, I suppose…" A doctor? Who did Lois know that was a doctor? She groaned audibly, for there was only one person it could possibly be.

"Emil, look! She's waking up!"

"I knew we should have medicated her when we had the chance! It's all your fault, Tess!"

At this, Lois's eyes flew open. She was lying down on a couch, and by the looks of it, she had somehow ended up in Watchtower. Standing over her were Dr. Emil Hamilton and none other than Tess Mercer, the current guardian of Watchtower, and the woman Lois kidnapped the other night. "Tess? But how?" Lois questioned, perplexed by Tess's presence.

"What? Did you think I was just going to lie there until I died of starvation?" Tess countered, rather snippily. "It took me almost a full day to maneuver myself into a position where I could free my arms, but after that, it was child's play to remove the rest of the duct tape." It looked as though she had not washed or showered since her kidnapping, her hair having become matted and dirty, and her clothes rumpled and soiled. Dark bags had appeared under Tess's eyes, and her makeup had long worn off. She scowled as she looked at Lois, giving the impression that she would hold a grudge against the other woman. Paired with the scowl, Tess's unkempt appearance made her look almost like a zombie, pale and sallow faced.

"What happened to you?" Lois gasped.

Tess gave her an incredulous look. "You kidnapped me. Did you think it would be all rainbows and ponies?"

Lois ignored Tess, and instead started another line of questioning. She began with a series of rapid-fire questions, "How did you sneak up on me? How did you find me in the first place? What did you drug me with? What do you plan on drugging me with?" She did not even pause to breathe.

Dr. Hamilton covered Tess's mouth with his hand. Tess looked as though she was about to explode and start cussing Lois out. He bore a look of intense concentration and fascination, "You were aware that whole time, during our discussion? How much did you hear us s—"

His sentence was cut off by a sudden burst of wind. A red and yellow blur zoomed by, toppling Dr. Hamilton over, and effectively putting an end to his questioning. This caused a domino effect, as he was still covering Tess's mouth, so Tess fell over too.

"Clark?" Lois asked, hopefully, despite knowing that there was no way Clark could have escaped from Roulette due to the Kryptonite handcuffs. Who else wore red and could move that fast? The colorful blur skidded to a stop in between where Tess and Emil were lying in a heap and where Lois was seated on the couch. He mussed up his windswept brown hair and smoothed out his red sweatshirt, which had twin lightning bolts stretching down from the shoulders, giving a sheepish look towards Tess and Dr. Hamilton, who were glaring at him. This answered one of Lois's questions, at least. This young man was definitely fast enough to sneak up on her like that.

"Sorry 'bout that," he said as he helped them to their feet, "And sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to bail on you guys, but the tension between you two was like killing me!" He clutched his heart melodramatically, while grinning broadly. His words brought on blushes in both Tess's and Emil's cheeks, as they looked at each other awkwardly. "It's okay. It's okay. Now's not the time to resolve your romantic tension. We're here to find out what's wrong with Lois. Wait where'd ya put Clark? I thought you guys were gonna get Clark so he'd be here when Lois woke up!" The young man spoke rather quickly, but not frantically. He somehow retained a laidback air while speeding through his sentences.

Tess, meanwhile, seemed to have recovered from her earlier embarrassment. "Impulse! I only called you because you were the only hero who could get to Metropolis fast enough!"

"Gasp! You wound me, Tess!"

Tess suddenly became very serious. "We couldn't get in touch with Clark, and I suspect that Lois here has something to do with that." She began pacing, and a frown appeared on her face. "Also, Lois has gone crazy," she added in an offhand manner.

"What?" Lois protested, having been silent through the whole exchange, "What makes you the judge of my sanity? And who's that kid?" She pointed over at Bart, who seemed startled.

"You dunno who I am? You're looking at the fastest man alive, here!" Bart struck a running pose. "Name's Bart, but I go by Impulse. I'm part of the team, y'know. Dude, I'm a superhero." Winking, Bart zipped to behind the couch, and before Lois could begin turning around, he was back where he had started. "Yep, I'm a super-speedster! Way faster than the Blur, too! So tell me, where's Clark?"

Lois's eyes widened, and she cried out, "Oh no, Clark!" as though she had just realized what she had done. She began sobbing into her hands, and Bart zipped over to comfort her. Tess still had a murderous glint in her eyes, and Emil was working hard to subdue her.

"Um… It'll be all right. We'll find Clark! Er… they'll find Clark and I'll save him!" Bart exclaimed, as he tried to soothe Lois.

"Tess was right!" Lois looked up through tearful eyes, and confided, "It was me! I arranged Clark's kidnapping!" Opening his mouth, Bart looked like he was about to interject something, but Lois shushed him with one warning look. "I contacted Roulette, and she said that she would handle all of the details. She was supposed to take him to the Two of Diamonds, the club you grabbed me outside of, and I was going to save him!"

"He's at the Two of Diamonds?" Bart questioned. He was almost out the door already.

"I knew it! You are behind Clark's disappearance!" Tess announced triumphantly, having freed herself from Emil's attempts to keep her quiet. "Wait! You arranged his kidnapping? You are crazy!"

Emil appeared to be the voice of reason in the room. "She appears to be remorseful, which means that she understands her actions. We should give her a chance for now, at least until we get Clark back. Tess, you need to calm down, and Bart, we need to formulate a plan before you go barging in there! For all we know, Roulette has gone back on her word and is keeping Clark elsewhere."

"Well, it'll only take me a sec to look through that building! I'll be back in a jiffy!" Before anyone could make any noise of protest, Impulse had zoomed off, leaving Watchtower behind.

Elsewhere-

"Hello, Clark." A twisted smile appeared on the bearded man's face.

"Lionel."

"I can't stay to chat long, but I'm glad to have you here. As you know, the Clark on my earth was a true Luthor, and I intend on showing you exactly what a true Luthor can do! You took my son away from me. You took Alexander."

"Alexander was not your son. You aren't even from this dimension."

Lionel ignored him. "What an interesting contraption." He fingered the Kryptonite handcuffs. "Just enough Kryptonite to negate your powers, but not to hurt you. Tsk. Oh well. I guess that means I'll have to get my hands dirty." He approached Clark, the twisted smile still on his face, and bent down to where Clark was lying down. Clark tried to inch away, but it made him seem pathetic, and it was useless anyway. He was in no shape to fight back or resist at all. Lionel merely punched Clark square in the nose, causing blood to trickle down out of it. "Hmmmm. I guess I didn't punch hard enough." He repeated the blow, this time adding a bit more force. A resounding crack filled the small room, and blood began gushing out of Clark's nose, flowing freely.

Clark locked his jaw in place, determined not to show any weakness by making any sounds of pain in response to his broken nose.

"I know a way to keep my hands from getting dirty," Lionel said. He wiped the blood onto Clark's red jacket and stood up. "I'll just kick you. I don't like these loafers anyway." He proceeded to begin kicking Clark, right in the ribcage. The kicks were not forceful enough to break any bones, but by the sounds of them, and how much they hurt Clark, they were going to bruise, badly.

Still keeping silent, Clark stayed in the same position throughout the barrage of kicks. The coldhearted Lionel merely kicked Clark until he grew tired, and then studied him with a somewhat indifferent look. "You're sad, Clark. Pathetic. You didn't even try to fight back."

Clark mustered up all of his strength and lifted his head to deliver an intense glare to Lionel. "You're the pathetic one. A real man wouldn't need such a big advantage to beat another man!"

Scoffing, Lionel exited the room, not turning back even as he shut the lead lined door behind himself. He made his way to the end of the hallway and entered another, equally dark and dismal as the last.

A shadowy figure stood in the corner, obscured from view. "Well?"

Lionel reclined in a desk chair, swiveling around to face the shadowy figure. "Everything is going according to plan. It's perfect—too perfect." He leaned forward in his chair and glowered at the figure, which shifted slightly in the shadows. Through the shadows, it seemed as though the figure's face had given off a gold glint.

"What do you mean?" The voice was clearly male, but the figure kept to the shadows.

Now smiling slightly, Lionel explained, "When villainous plots work this well, you know something is going to go wrong. Either the hero escapes from the seemingly inescapable trap, or some other hero inexplicably shows up and saves the day. You obviously don't have the experience to know this."

"But I handled the other heroes!"

"When a more experienced villain says that something is going to go wrong, you listen to them!" Lionel bellowed at the younger supervillain, "We're going to move this entire operation! They may be onto us as we speak. Prepare the Blur for transport!"

"Who might be onto us? And why would we move? Wouldn't it be easier for them, whoever they are, to attack us in transit?"

"Shush! You must follow my orders!"

"Okay, fine!" Without turning to look at Lionel, the young man left the room, pulling a black and red hood over his own naturally red hair.


	6. Frustrating Happenings

Frustrating Happenings

The door to Watchtower suddenly swung open, and Tess, Emil, and Lois all found themselves watching the threshold in anticipation. When they saw that it was just Bart, alone, everyone became anxious, and they all began shooting questions at Bart at the same time.

"Why aren't you using your super-speed? Couldn't you have just vibrated through the door?" Tess asked.

"Where the hell's Clark?" Lois erupted.

"Why'd you leave without hearing me out? You can't just run off without thinking!" Emil sighed.

"Clark wasn't there! I went to the Two of Diamonds, and he wasn't there! It was abandoned; looked like it had been for years! There was no one there and no sign of anyone ever having been there. Well, except for maybe many, many years ago…" Bart deemed Lois's question the most urgent, and answered it first. His eyebrows were knotted in frustration, and he was being uncharacteristically serious, which brought to light the severity of the whole situation. Tess and Emil immediately dismissed their questions as trivial, now focused on the matter at hand.

"Okay. Everyone, here's how this is going to work—I'll use Watchtower's tech to search for Clark, Impulse can search for clues to Clark's whereabouts at his abduction sight, and Emil can watch over Lois while I use the computers." Tess was eyeing Lois suspiciously, still unsure of Lois's sanity and allegiance.

"No! I'm Clark's fiancée! I'm not just going to sit here while he's somewhere out there, missing!" She gestured to Watchtower's large window, and began gazing outside, ruefully.

"You _were_ the one that arranged his kidnapping. You obviously did not plan it out very well. Now tell us everything that has happened up to this point. Leave nothing out!"

Lois recounted everything that had happened ever since Clark's fateful training session with Conner, up to the moment she had felt the needle prick on her neck. Tess listened intently to the explanation, her eyebrow cocked in an expression of bewilderment. Dr. Hamilton was studying Lois closely, an odd expression on his face.

"Wasn't that a bit of an overreaction?" Tess questioned, one eyebrow still raised.

"It seems as if all of your emotions were magnified. Have you been having intense mood swings lately?" Concern was evident in Emil's face as he looked at Lois.

"I don't know, but Tess is right—I overreacted big time, and now Clark could be hurt because of it." Lois's eyes were downcast, and she was on the verge of tears.

Tess turned towards Emil. "Do you think she's bipolar? Maybe we _should _medicate her."

Lois opened her mouth to speak, but Emil silenced her with a wave of his hand. "I have this suspicion that her emotions were somehow artificially magnified."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Tess frowned. "She should just take responsibility for her actions!"

"I've seen enough weird things by now to know that this isn't out of the question. In fact I'm sure of it. Lois is old enough that she should have shown signs of any mental illness if has one."

Lois could not control herself. "Hey! Who are you calling old?"

Sighing, Tess rubbed her forehead. "It's best that we act fast. Impulse I need you to—" Tess did a double take; Bart was nowhere to be seen.

"It seems as though he was way ahead of you as far as it comes to acting fast." Emil smirked as he studied Tess's frustrated expression.

"Stop fooling around! With Impulse long gone, the plan is already in motion. Excuse me, but I need to get in contact with the aptly named Impulse!" Tess stormed over to her computer and began typing away.

"It looks like Lois isn't the only short-tempered woman here today," Emil muttered under his breath.

"I heard that!" Lois shouted.

"Great! Why am I even here? I'm just a lowly doctor!"

A gust of wind signaled Bart's return. His face was full of frustration and anger, and this time, he bypassed the door. "I didn't find any clues to Clark's whereabouts. Any evidence that might've been there is long burned away." He gripped his hair tightly and began pacing. "I can't just stand around doing nothing while Clark is missing! There's gotta be something I can do! Anything! Tess, is there anything I can do?"

"I was going to send you to Kent Farm to look for anything that could be causing Lois's erratic behavior, but since we have no idea where Clark is, I think your time would be better spent elsewhere—like combing the streets randomly until you see anything even remotely suspicious!"

"Okay—"

"Wait! I was being sarcastic. We're at a dead end, and it's all Lois's fault!"

"Hey!" Lois shouted, but Tess cut her off.

"Shut up! There's no time for this!"

"Um…should I just, I dunno, check Lionel Luthor's place for Clark, or something?" Bart's superspeed pacing was wearing a hole in the floor, but he had no intentions of stopping any time soon. Only superspeeding around could help him relieve all of his pent up tension.

"That's it!" Tess's eyes were bright. "Of course! Roulette would have brought Clark to the highest bidder, and who would pay more for Clark than Lionel Luthor?" With the mention of her father's name, her eyes grew dark in anger.

"I doubt he would bring Clark back to his house," said Emil, ever the voice of reason.

Tess began rapidly clicking the keyboard. "I'll try pin point Lionel's location, but he's probably been doing a damn fine job of covering his tracks." She printed out a sheet of paper and handed it to Bart. "This is a list of the addresses of all of the known hideouts of Lionel Luthor. Knowing him, he will have found a new one, but we might as well be certain."

With those words, Bart was off again, and Lois felt relieved that they had at least an idea of where Clark could be.

Tess's eyes widened suddenly as though she had an epiphany, and then she was back at her keyboard, clicking away. "Emil! You may actually have been on to something! I just remembered about this artifact I heard about. Rumors were circulating through the underworld a couple months back, but that was it, just rumors. But it's true what they say—there's definitely some truth in rumors."

Emil moved over until he was standing directly behind her. "What is it?"

"The Medusa Mask." Tess brought up a picture on the large screen, and Emil and Lois stared at it, wide-eyed. It was a shiny golden color and looked like the comedy or tragedy mask without the mouth. "The rumors say that the wearer gains the ability to amplify or control emotions. I suppose that could be what happened to Lois. That is, if this whole business about the Medusa Mask is true."

"Are you saying that Roulette or Lionel Luthor has a partner who has this mask and has been controlling me this whole time?"

"Well, not controlling you, per se. More like influencing you through your emotions."

"I believe it," Emil supplied.

Meanwhile, elsewhere-

The young man stared at his reflection in the mirror. A glinting, golden mask stared back at him, and he felt its cold smoothness with his fingertips.

"Why am I taking orders from him?" He asked his reflection, "I'm way more powerful than him. I could make Luthor crawl into a corner and cry if I wanted to. Do I?"

He stared at his reflection for a few moments, as if waiting for a voice to respond. "Am I a psycho if I want my reflection to tell me what to do? Ughhhh. All I need is a cool supervillain name, and then I could take over the world, or do whatever it is supervillains do these days—control the president's emotions from behind the scenes." He smirked inside the golden mask, and a smile formed on the outside, which just made him feel even happier as he stared at it.

"I've got it—since I'm a psycho anyway, I'll go by Psycho-Pirate because I feed off of others emotions! Why am I explaining myself to you anyway?" He turned his back on his reflection and gazed through the darkness in the other direction.

"Oh, Lionel," he called out into the darkness, "come here! There's something I want to show you!" He made his mask into a scared and cowering face, in preparation for Lionel's arrival. Once the Psycho-Pirate gained control of the Blur's emotions, he would be unstoppable!


End file.
